void * is known as "pointer to void type", meaning variables defined as such are pointers to data of an unspecified type, making it similar to var in C#.

int apples {15};

A braced initializer refers to placing the initial value of a variable in braces. This is a novel style of initialization introduced in C++11. Its main advantage is that it will raise a compile-time error if the compiler has to perform a narrowing conversion of the value to match the declared type.

Older but equally valid ways of initializing variables:

int oranges = 12;
int kiwis(13); // "functional notation"

Zero initialization refers to initializing a variable with empty braces. It works for any fundamental type, and numeric types initialize to zero.

int grapes {}; // 0

Since C++14, you can separate digits in a long integer with a single quote to make it more readable.

int num {12'345}; // 12,345

Hexadecimal literals are prefixed with "0x" and octals with "0":

int hex {0xabcdef};
int oct {0567};